Virat Kohli may get close to Sachin Tendulkar's record: Sourav Ganguly

Indian star batsman Virat Kohli has scored 22 ODI centuries

Former Indian Cricket Team’s captain Sourav Ganguly feels that India’s premier batsman Virat Kohli may get close to breaking Sachin Tendulkar's 49 One Day International centuries record. At a time, when every other batting record is broken, Ganguly is of the opinion that the 100 International centuries set by the batting maestro will remain safe forever.

"It's very very safe. I don't think anybody will ever be able to break that record. Virat Kohli I think will get close to him one-day cricket. He has reached 22 centuries, he still has 28 more to get to 50 in ODIs. He has to play probably for 10 more years for that, we will have to wait and see," Ganguly said during a book release function.

The former captain heaped praise on the Indian team after their turnaround in the World Cup 2015.

"Their form in the recently-concluded Tests and tri-series and that in the World Cup is a massive revelation. Nobody predicted that India would beat South Africa by 130 runs. It's very unpredictable but India's form has been a revelation for all of us.” he said.

It is difficult to predict the quarter-finalists: Ganguly

Ganguly refused to pick his favourites for the quarter-finals of this World Cup.

"World Cup group stage does not give you a picture of what's in store in the knockout stages. In this format, every team is beatable on that particular day, If you want a biased answer it would be Australia and India. But if you want a realistic answer then I don't know because anybody can beat anybody. It's very very unpredictable."

Ganguly picks his semi-finalists

Ganguly furthur said that they have to see how Dhoni's men will perform when they lose a toss for the first time in this World Cup. Chris Gayle exploded back to form with a double hundred against Zimbabwe and Ganguly mentioned that it could be difficult to India, if West Indies wins the toss and post 300 total on the bouncy WACA in Perth on March 6.

"Remember India have won the toss twice we have to see when they lose a toss. Look at the West Indies if they win the toss in Perth and they get to 250-300, it's going to be hard work for India. So it's very difficult to predict.”

Ganguly however, picked India, South Africa and the tournament co-hosts Australia and New Zealand to make the semifinals.

"India, Australia, New Zealand are looking good and we cannot write off South Africa after just one loss. And in this format, it does not matter what you do in group stages but how you perform in in the quarters, semifinals and final."